Review: Madea Goes to Jail

Times are tough for Tyler Perry these days. With critical accolades in
short supply and box office returns slowing to a worrisome degree,
it's time to bust out the old drag routine again to stimulate the
faithful. Discounting a microscopic cameo in last year's "Meet the
Browns," "Madea Goes to Jail" (IMDb listing) is the first time the titular Georgian
hell-raiser has assumed a starring role in three years. I'll be
honest: she wasn't missed. An unpardonably primitive, repetitive
dramedy that promises a farce yet delivers the same tiresome Perry
brand of spiritual and empowerment hooey, the "Jail" of the title is
more apt as a metaphor for the ticket buyer's situation than a comic
location for Madea to prance around within.

When a destructive freeway chase lands smart-mouthed Madea (Tyler
Perry) in court, further outbursts of verbal abuse and anger
management issues send her to prison, where she finds friendship with
the ladies of the cellblock (including Vanessa Ferlito and Sofia
Vergara). One of these wayward souls is Candace (Keisha Knight
Pulliam, the once and future Rudy Huxtable), a junkie prostitute with
ties to Joshua (Derek Luke), a prominent Assistant D.A. who long ago
derailed the young woman's life and now desires to help rebuild it.
The newfound attention upsets Joshua's fiancée (Ion Overman), who uses
her deceitful legal power to separate the two and return Joshua to his
rightful place as a spineless husband-to-be.

While the marquee reads "Madea Goes to Jail," the true title should
be, "Madea Goes to Jail Sometime in the Third Act, So Here's This
Nonsense about a Hooker and Her Gang Rape Enabler." In classic Perry
form, "Jail" is a schizophrenic production that wishes to indulge its
spastically comedic roots while dishing up some reheated melodrama
that the diminishing fanbase has come to treasure. The division in
tone is a stunner, with Perry trying to employ his violent Madea
tomfoolery as a rodeo clown while letting topics of drug addiction,
sexual abuse, and vocational deception take center stage. It's a bit
of a cheat to promise viewers one direction while clearly favoring
another, but it wouldn't be Perry if the film wasn't outrageously
irrational, flimsily edited, acted with rafter-quaking severity, and
scripted with Magic Markers. I'd probably feel cheated at this point
if Perry actually made a concentrated effort to maintain a steady
dramatic tone.

How strange is this picture? At one point Perry asks Luke to give his
all to camera, pouring his heart out as the character struggles with a
painful realization of guilt. Oh, how the tears flow! And then the
filmmaker cuts to a scene where Madea beats up a team of bailiffs as
she's dragged to the big house. So much for letting the nuance sink
in.

"Jail" doesn't deviate from the template set by the early Perry
pictures: serving up questionable Jesus-scented messages on accepting
personal responsibility for wrongful actions (a concept given 90
seconds of air before it's oddly paved over for the traditional white
knight conclusion), confusing character motivations to a point of
unintentional laughter, and permitting the cast to mug for the camera
until their cheekbones bleed.

Obviously Perry takes the gold medal in the overacting department,
again using Madea as a vessel for his sassmouth energy and
improv-heavy one-liners. With Madea beating up cops, ruining the day
for nasty Caucasians everywhere, and refusing to accept psychological
deconstruction (a subplot that welcomes a Dr. Phil cameo), the
character is as wily as ever in "Jail," making the divide between
plots impossible to suitably bridge. It's a shame Perry refuses to
take the character anywhere new, as a little change of pace might
actually push Madea into the alien arena of earned laughs, and not the
semi-minstrel thin-ice pond she skates upon now.

"Madea Goes to Jail" is a softball motion picture even for Perry, who
only uses the film to broaden his empire (characters/newfound sitcom
stars Cora and Leroy Brown cameo), not to challenge his abilities as
an actor or storyteller.

Times are tough for Tyler Perry these days. With critical accolades in\nshort supply and box office returns slowing to a worrisome degree,\nit's time to bust out the old drag routine again to stimulate the\nfaithful. Discounting a microscopic cameo in last year's \"Meet the\nBrowns,\" \"Madea Goes to Jail\" (IMDb listing) is the first time the titular Georgian\nhell-raiser has assumed a starring role in three years. I'll be\nhonest: she wasn't missed. An unpardonably primitive, repetitive\ndramedy that promises a farce yet delivers the same tiresome Perry\nbrand of spiritual and empowerment hooey, the \"Jail\" of the title is\nmore apt as a metaphor for the ticket buyer's situation than a comic\nlocation for Madea to prance around within.\n\n

\n\nWhen a destructive freeway chase lands smart-mouthed Madea (Tyler\nPerry) in court, further outbursts of verbal abuse and anger\nmanagement issues send her to prison, where she finds friendship with\nthe ladies of the cellblock (including Vanessa Ferlito and Sofia\nVergara). One of these wayward souls is Candace (Keisha Knight\nPulliam, the once and future Rudy Huxtable), a junkie prostitute with\nties to Joshua (Derek Luke), a prominent Assistant D.A. who long ago\nderailed the young woman's life and now desires to help rebuild it.\nThe newfound attention upsets Joshua's fiancée (Ion Overman), who uses\nher deceitful legal power to separate the two and return Joshua to his\nrightful place as a spineless husband-to-be.\n\n\n

\nWhile the marquee reads \"Madea Goes to Jail,\" the true title should\nbe, \"Madea Goes to Jail Sometime in the Third Act, So Here's This\nNonsense about a Hooker and Her Gang Rape Enabler.\" In classic Perry\nform, \"Jail\" is a schizophrenic production that wishes to indulge its\nspastically comedic roots while dishing up some reheated melodrama\nthat the diminishing fanbase has come to treasure. The division in\ntone is a stunner, with Perry trying to employ his violent Madea\ntomfoolery as a rodeo clown while letting topics of drug addiction,\nsexual abuse, and vocational deception take center stage. It's a bit\nof a cheat to promise viewers one direction while clearly favoring\nanother, but it wouldn't be Perry if the film wasn't outrageously\nirrational, flimsily edited, acted with rafter-quaking severity, and\nscripted with Magic Markers. I'd probably feel cheated at this point\nif Perry actually made a concentrated effort to maintain a steady\ndramatic tone.\n\n

\n\nHow strange is this picture? At one point Perry asks Luke to give his\nall to camera, pouring his heart out as the character struggles with a\npainful realization of guilt. Oh, how the tears flow! And then the\nfilmmaker cuts to a scene where Madea beats up a team of bailiffs as\nshe's dragged to the big house. So much for letting the nuance sink\nin.\n\n\n

\n\"Jail\" doesn't deviate from the template set by the early Perry\npictures: serving up questionable Jesus-scented messages on accepting\npersonal responsibility for wrongful actions (a concept given 90\nseconds of air before it's oddly paved over for the traditional white\nknight conclusion), confusing character motivations to a point of\nunintentional laughter, and permitting the cast to mug for the camera\nuntil their cheekbones bleed.\n\n\n

\nObviously Perry takes the gold medal in the overacting department,\nagain using Madea as a vessel for his sassmouth energy and\nimprov-heavy one-liners. With Madea beating up cops, ruining the day\nfor nasty Caucasians everywhere, and refusing to accept psychological\ndeconstruction (a subplot that welcomes a Dr. Phil cameo), the\ncharacter is as wily as ever in \"Jail,\" making the divide between\nplots impossible to suitably bridge. It's a shame Perry refuses to\ntake the character anywhere new, as a little change of pace might\nactually push Madea into the alien arena of earned laughs, and not the\nsemi-minstrel thin-ice pond she skates upon now.\n\n

\n\n\"Madea Goes to Jail\" is a softball motion picture even for Perry, who\nonly uses the film to broaden his empire (characters/newfound sitcom\nstars Cora and Leroy Brown cameo), not to challenge his abilities as\nan actor or storyteller.